Fridays (Cartoon Cartoon Fridays)
Fridays, formerly known as Cartoon Cartoon Fridays (often abbreviated as CNF or CCF), was a Cartoon Network programming block that served as the marquee night for premieres, new episodes, and re-runs of the network's original series, which included the famed Cartoon Cartoons. The block was shown weekly on Friday nights from June 11, 1999 through February 23, 2007. It was created by Steve Patrick and Christina Augustinos, and produced by Primal Screen. Each week on CCF, a different Cartoon Cartoon character would host; the hosting segments were often re-used throughout the block's run. While the block was primarily for Cartoon Cartoons, it later integrated non-Cartoon Cartoons such as Samurai Jack, Justice League, and What's New, Scooby-Doo?. In 2003, CCF was rebooted in a live-action format as "Fridays", hosted by Tommy Snider, Nzinga Blake (2003–2004), and Tara Sands (2005–2007). It aired series outside the "Cartoon Cartoon" sub-brand, and also included skits, guest stars, and live musical performances. Fridays was replaced with Friday Night Premiere Thunder in 2007. Until June 2007, Friday night was the only evening that was programmed for children on the network from 10:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M., with Adult Swim originally airing on Saturday–Thursday nights (before moving to seven nights a week in July 2007). History Creation In 1999, Cartoon Network wanted to compete with other cable networks with their own original programming in prime time. To accomplish this, they created a weekly event titled "Cartoon Cartoon Fridays," a 4-hour programming block featuring new episodes and premieres of Cartoon Cartoons (a collective term for early Cartoon Network Original Series). 1999–2000 season CCF began on June 11, 1999. In its original format, it was hosted by live-action actors and actresses, with a series of cartoon-injected parodies, including fake lottery shows, weather forecasts, astronomy, a Cartoon Cartoon-themed marching band, and livestock auctions. The intro for CCF involved lines and volume bars showing all the Cartoon Cartoons. The "Coming Up Next", "We'll Be Right Back", and "Back to the Show" bumpers featured by NFL stars who hung up cardboard pieces of Cartoon Cartoon characters. This format was used until June 2, 2000. When CCF first aired, it had giveaways of Cartoon Cartoon-themed items which were raffled away by phone. The giveaways ended after a dozen or so weeks. CCF's commercials and promos featured live-action people acting like Cartoon Cartoon characters. The slogan for these commercials was "Are you cartoon?" 2000–01 season Starting on June 9, 2000, CCF was revamped. This new version took place inside a white factory-like setting, where oversized ribbons (that emerged from the "Cartoons Cartoons" logo during the introduction) laid about. Each week, a character from a Cartoon Cartoon would host the block by announcing upcoming episodes and interacting with other random Cartoon Network characters on the set. To tie this all together, there was an off-screen announcer that introduced each host as well as the weekly commercial ads. The following Cartoon Cartoon characters took turns hosting the show in this season: *Eustace (Courage the Cowardly Dog) *Johnny Bravo (Johnny Bravo) *Edd (Ed, Edd n Eddy) *Bubbles (The Powerpuff Girls) *The Mayor (The Powerpuff Girls) Each character presented new episodes of their respective shows, as well as several pilots. The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: Meet the Reaper won the Big Pick 2000, which was hosted by the Mayor. Sheep in the Big City was also a pilot that premiered in the Summer of 2000 and premiered as a full series on November 17, 2000 In Fall 2000, the host would present new episodes of various Cartoon Cartoons, not just their own. Eustace's last time hosting alone would be in December 2000 and the following week would be Dexter's first time hosting. Sheep would host for one time only in February of 2001. Six new Cartoon Cartoons premiered on CCF: Courage the Cowardly Dog, Mike, Lu & Og, Sheep in the Big City, Time Squad, Grim & Evil, Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, and Codename: Kids Next Door. 2001–02 season CCF was revamped again on June 8, 2001, and the bridging format featured newly-animated segments starring the Cartoon Cartoon characters. These segments were repeated until late summer of 2002. The following Cartoon Cartoon characters took turns hosting the show: *Dexter (Dexter's Laboratory) On December 14, 2001, Dexter's hosting segment was completely re-done to reflect the new style of his own show and the older one was never aired again. *Bubbles (The Powerpuff Girls) *Mojo Jojo (The Powerpuff Girls) Due to a scheduling error on Johnny Bravo's part, Blossom and Courage were also supposed to host on Mojo's night, and the two continuously interrupted him throughout the night. *The Mayor and Ms. Bellum (The Powerpuff Girls) *Johnny Bravo (Johnny Bravo) *Edd (Ed, Edd n Eddy) *Ed and Eddy (Ed, Edd n Eddy) *Eustace and Muriel (Courage the Cowardly Dog) *Larry, Otto, and Tuddrussel (Time Squad) *Sheep (Sheep in the Big City) As opposed to the others, who each got to host many times throughout the block's run, Sheep only hosted once. A new Cartoon Cartoon, Time Squad, premiered on the day of the revamp. A new Big Pick, featuring all of the pilots that premiered during the Summer of 2001, was held for fans to vote for which pilot would become a new series. The winner was Codename: Kids Next Door. Grim & Evil would also premiere the same weekend as the Big Pick. Additionally, I.M. Weasel hosted the Big Pick Weekend 2001. Two holiday specials aired throughout the show's run, one for Halloween, and one for Christmas, both of which featured interactions between all of the characters, but the Cartoon Orbit site listed Weasel as the official host for both of these events. Despite these three events and his popularity as a character, Weasel never received his own regular hosting segment in rotation. 2002–03 season CCF sort of changed for the June 2002 but there were no new hosts, The Summer had only 4 new episodes in one night and Whatever Happened to Robot Jones? Premiered in July of 2002. Courage had new episodes almost every Friday from June 2002 to November 2002 when the series ended. Codename: Kids Next Door would be the last Cartoon Cartoon to premiere on December 6, 2002 and What's New, Scooby Doo? would premiere in the CCF lineup in March 2003. On October 4, 2002, Cartoon Cartoon Fridays became Scaretoon Scaretoon Fright-Days. This special featured direct-to-video Scooby-Doo movies along with new episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog and Grim & Evil. CCF ceased on May 16, 2003 and on May 23, it was temporarily replaced with Summer Fridays, which introduced the final two Cartoon Cartoons: The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Evil Con Carne. On September 5, 2003, Summer Fridays was replaced with Cartoon Network's Fridays. Finally, on October 5, 2003, CCF was retooled in a live-action format as "Fridays", hosted by Tommy Snider and Nzinga Blake (2003–2004), and Tara Sands (2005–2007). It featured a re-designed version of CCF's "Fridays" disc logo, and aired series outside the "Cartoon Cartoon" sub-brand such as Samurai Jack, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Camp Lazlo, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Squirrel Boy, and Class of 3000. Fridays ended its run on February 23, 2007. 2003–04 season After CCF ended on May 16, 2003, Summer Fridays and Cartoon Network's Fridays were temporary replacements. On October 5, 2003, Fridays premiered. The bridging segments were done in live-action with a new set and hosts, Tommy Snider and Nzinga Blake, as well as new characters such as Whiskers, Big Guy Shimmy, Milkman Fred, and Diner Lady, and edutainment segments. The original opening sequence for Fridays, used from 2003 to 2005, featured characters from just about every show that had ever been on Cartoon Network, including shows that later disappeared entirely from the network (examples being Looney Tunes, The Jetsons, and Hong Kong Phooey). 2005–07 season On January 7, 2005, Tara Sands took over Nzinga Blake's hosting duties. In February 2005, a month later, the show's set was also changed, making it wackier and replacing most of the older characters in the intro with newer characters. Two new original series premiered on Fridays that year: The Life and Times of Juniper Lee and Camp Lazlo. On April 7, 2006, the set received yet another facelift and now resembled the interior of a retro-chic house. This set was used until Fridays ended on February 23, 2007. The final three Fridays series premiered in 2006: My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Squirrel Boy, and Class of 3000. Fridays ended its run on February 23, 2007 and was replaced by Friday Night Premiere Thunder, which began airing two weeks later on April 6, 2007. Programming Cartoon Network Original Series Cartoon Cartoons *''The What a Cartoon! Show'' (1999) *''Dexter's Laboratory'' (1999–2003; 2005) *''Johnny Bravo'' (1999–2006) *''Cow and Chicken'' (1999–2002) *''I Am Weasel'' (1999–2002; 2005) *''The Powerpuff Girls'' (1999–2006) *''Ed, Edd n Eddy'' (1999–2007) *''Mike, Lu & Og'' (1999–2001) *''Courage the Cowardly Dog'' (1999–2004; 2006) *''Sheep in the Big City'' (2000–2002) *''Time Squad'' (2001–2003) *''Grim & Evil'' (2001–2002) *''Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?'' (2002–2003) *''Codename: Kids Next Door'' (2002–2007) *''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'' (2000–2003; 2005) *''The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'' (2003–2007) *''Evil Con Carne'' (2003–2004) Cartoon Cartoon shorts *''The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: "Meet the Reaper"'' (2000) *''Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?'' (2000) *''Trevor! in "Journey to Sector 5-G"'' (2000) *''Nikki'' (2000) *''Foe Paws'' (2000) *''Prickles the Cactus'' (2000) *''Lucky Lydia in "Club Lydia"'' (2000) *''Longhair and Doubledome: "Good Wheel Hunting"'' (2000) *''Lost Cat'' (2000) *''Uncle Gus: "For the Love of Monkeys"'' (2000) *''Captain Sturdy: "Back in Action"'' (2001) *''Yee Hah & Doo Dah in "Bronco Breakin' Boots"'' (2001) *''Imp, Inc.'' (2001) *''My Freaky Family'' (2001) *''Major Flake: "Soggy Sale"'' (2001) *''Utica Cartoon: "Hotdog Champeen"'' (2001) *''Kids Next Door: "No P in the Ool"'' (2001) *''Swaroop'' (2001) *''Ferret and Parrot'' (2001) *''A Kitty Bobo Show: "Cellphones"'' (2001) *''Longhair and Doubledome: Where There's Smoke...There's Bob'' (2003) Other *''Samurai Jack'' (2002) *''Star Wars: Clone Wars'' (2003–2004) *''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'' (2004–2007) *''Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi'' (2004–2006) *''The Life and Times of Juniper Lee'' (2005–2006) *''Camp Lazlo'' (2005–2007) *''My Gym Partner's a Monkey'' (2006–2007) *''Ben 10'' (2006–2007) *''Squirrel Boy'' (2006–2007) *''Class of 3000'' (2006–2007) Acquired series *''Justice League'' (2002–2004) *''Duck Dodgers'' (2003–2005) *''What's New, Scooby-Doo?'' (2003–2006) *''¡Mucha Lucha!'' (2004–2005) *''Atomic Betty'' (2004–2005) *''Xiaolin Showdown'' (2006–2007) Specials *''The Uncle Gus Show'' *''12 Tiny Christmas Tales'' (premiered December 7, 2001) *''Private Eye Princess'' (premiered 2003) *''Cartoon Network's Top 40 Musical Moments'' (premiered 2003) *''Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer'' (premiered 2005) *''Tony Hawk in Boom Boom Sabotage'' (premiered 2006) Hosts *'Tommy Snider': Tommy is the show's lovable co-host. With the maturity of a child, and the heart of gold, Tommy sings, dances, and performs crazy pranks that drive Nzinga nuts. To say he is the comedic relief would be an understatement. Tommy enjoys water skiing, bowling, and saving the universe with his giant robot! *'Nzinga Blake': Behind every great show is a great woman. Nzinga is the smart, energetic co-host of Fridays. With a strong fashion sense and no-nonsense attitude, Nzinga keeps Fridays is working order every week. One thing she'd like everyone to know is that the "n" in her name is unpronounced. She also enjoys cartoons, good jokes, and dancing. *'Tara Sands': Tara is a host replacing Nzinga on Cartoon Network's (now defunct) weekly block Fridays. Outside of Fridays she does her work on anime dubbing. Segments These segments had characters such as: Whiskers the Cat, Milkman, Long Haul, Diner Lady, Big Guys, Rev Chase and Motor Baby. *"The Big Guys" - 4 big men along with the Friday's cast do a signature dance for a short period of time. *"Long Haul the Puppet Trucker" - A bear puppet riding a truck and telling the audience what's in his truck every week, he had become a big part of the Fridays weekly Block. *"Milkman Fred" - A old and jolly milkman who discusses fun ways to get a healthy source of milk in your every day life, as well as the basic milk products. *"Diner Lady"- A waitress who takes orders for the audience, she usually announces upcoming shows *"Rev Chase and Motor Baby" - a biker and a baby (who are basically toys), drive around a green screened background, usually announce upcoming shows. *"Whiskers the Cat"- a talking cat that says a different kind of fruit every week. *"Wiggle Chicken" - a rubber chicken that wiggles around a random background. One week, the segment was challenged by another segment called Jiggle Lizard. *"Show and Tell" - An eager boy who loves participating in show and tell, though he seems to showboat rather than present anything and his teacher finds him quite annoying. *"Lame Fables" - Fables written by Aesop that are retold in a crude and sarcastic matter. *"Travel Logs" - 2 talking logs that travel around the world. They manage to screw up everything they do and tick off everyone around them. Credits Cast *Charlie Adler—Chicken; Cow; The Red Guy; I.R. Baboon *Michael Dorn—I.M. Weasel *Jeff Bennett—Johnny Bravo; Dad *Brenda Vaccaro—Bunny Bravo *Christine Cavanaugh—Dexter (2000–01) *Candi Milo—Dexter (2001–03) *Kat Cressida—Dee Dee *Allison Moore—Dee Dee *Kath Soucie—Mom, Nadine Stillwater (Australia only) *Eddie Deezen—Mandark *Roger L. Jackson—Mojo Jojo *Cathy Cavadini—Blossom *Tara Strong—Bubbles *E.G. Daily—Buttercup *Tom Kane—Him; Professor Utonium *Tom Kenny—The Mayor; Lenny Baxter; Valhallen *Jennifer Martin—Sara Bellum *Jim Cummings—Fuzzy Lumpkins *Kevin Michael Richardson—The Boogie Man *Matt Hill—Ed *Samuel Vincent—Edd *Tony Sampson—Eddy *Peter Kelamis—Rolf *Janyse Jaud—Lee Kanker *Marty Grabstein—Courage *Thea White—Muriel *Arthur Anderson—Eustace (2002–03) *Lionel G. Wilson—Eustace (2000–02; 2002–03, archive footage) *Richard Horvitz—Billy *Grey DeLisle—Mandy *Greg Eagles—Grim *Pamela Adlon—Otto Osworth *Mark Hamill—Larry 3000 *Rob Paulsen—Buck Tuddrussel; Major Glory *Frank Welker—The Infraggable Krunk; Boskov *Phil LaMarr—Hector Con Carne *Kevin Seal—Sheep *Ben Diskin—Numbuh 1; Numbuh 2 *Lauren Tom—Numbuh 3 *Dee Bradley Baker—Numbuh 4 *Cree Summer—Numbuh 5 *Harry Shearer—Mr. Announcer (1999-2000) *Tom Clark—Mr. Announcer (2000–02) *Doug Preis—Mr. Announcer (2002–03) Crew *Studio—Primal Screen *Produced by—Christina Augustinos, Billy Cone, Steve Patrick, Chris Kelly *Written by—Chris Kelly, Billy Cone, Steve Patrick *Executive in Charge of Production for Cartoon Network—Linda Simensky Trivia *On Yogi's ID promo, the Fridays disc makes a cameo appearance on the Cartoon Network World Headquarters, but on the Latin America version, the disc is disappeared, along with the network's slogan "Screwy, Ain't It" on top of the building. *On Scrappy Loses It promo, the CCF set was on Studio C at the Cartoon Network backlot. *There was a promo for Cartoon Cartoon Fridays that intentionally aired on a different channel. The promo featured Edd, Johnny Bravo, Buttercup, I.R. Baboon, and Courage entering the channel without permission; the background was solid orange (implying this was meant to air on Nickelodeon), and the characters were in a hurry to explain the block in about 30 seconds, as an executive from the other channel was after them. The promo can be seen here. *There are two instances in which a character that was not a Cartoon Cartoon appeared on the block: when Edd hosted the block, Fred Jones made an appearance (accompanied by Eddy complaining that Cartoon Network plays Scooby-Doo enough), and Aquaman was the intruder during the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays Halloween Party, with Chicken actually mentioning that Aquaman wasn't a Cartoon Cartoon. **Both events are somewhat ironic, as What's New, Scooby-Doo? and Justice League would air on the block later on. External links *Fridays: The Fansite Notes Category:Cartoon Network Blocks Category:Programming Blocks Category:Cancelled Programming Blocks Category:Cartoon Cartoons